Welte-Mignon Test Rolls
By Wayne Stahnke
This note is a response to Gerhard Dangel-Reese's request for information about T-98 and T-100 test rolls in the United States.
To my knowledge, there are three different T-100 test rolls, all without roll numbers. They are as follows:
(1) "Skala fuer Welte-Mignon." This is a short test roll, apparently for use by Welte-Mignon owners. The tests are very undemanding, and there is little to be learned from them. The tempo test calls for a paper speed very different from the paper speed that results from adjustment using the other two test rolls. I have one copy of this roll available to me in the United States.
(2) "Monteur Skala." This is a lengthy test roll, apparently for use by technicians in the field. It includes extensive tests for all timed adjustments. All of the copies of this roll that I have seen are on white lined paper, with very large holes. The appearance is identical to the appearance of the T-100 master rolls. I have three copies of this roll available to me in the United States, all of them manufactured in the 1920s.
(3) "Fabrik Skala." This roll is the most demanding of all of the test rolls. Among other things, it includes two different hole sizes for each speaking note, yielding a "go-no go" test for the bleed size. I know of two copies of this roll, both in Europe.
I know of only one T-98 test roll, the "Monteur Skala." This roll is very interesting because the tempo test establishes the paper speed for T-98 rolls at exactly (not approximately) Tempo 72, or exactly 35.476 mm/s. This is a wonderful result. The T-100 test rolls are all different one from another, and as a consequence we do not know with any degree of certainty what the T-100 paper speed should be. I have one copy of the T-98 Monteur Skala available to me in the United States.
If you know of any other test rolls, or if you have any information about the dates on which any of these test rolls first appeared, please let me know.
With best regards,
Wayne Stahnke
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(Message sent Tue 1 Oct 1996, 14:28:50 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.) |
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